This invention relates to a reinforced gasket to seal segmented housing sections together to permit easy removal of each section for service of apparatus contained therein. In particular the invention relates to ventilating apparatus and segmented housings with reinforced gaskets therebetween for use in vehicles used for local traffic.
Electrical devices of relatively large volume, such as DC control elements, invertors, chokes, and, for energy recovery, heat exchangers and filter members as well as heaters and heat accumulators are being installed in increasing numbers in local traffic vehicles. In order to cool these devices they are usually assembled side by side, each in its own housing and with the housings connected together to form one relatively long segmented housing through which air can be blown by a suitable blower. It is sometimes necessary to provide several such segmented housings in a vehicle. In order to service the device in an individual segment it is desirable to be able to separate that segment from the rest of the same group, but at the same time it is desirable that the intersection between successive segments be airtight to prevent leakage of the cooling air before it has had time to traverse the entire chain of housings.
Gaskets between successive segments of a segmented housing for such use are usually constructed in the form bellows that have a relatively large overall link and are bolted to the adjoining housings. In such cases it is common to find that some of the bolts are inaccessible for easy disassembly, especially those facing the floor of the vehicle. This can be circumvented to some degree by omitting the bolts or by providing a labyrinth seal on the flange of the bellows on the inaccessible side and hanging into the flange of the housing. Such a junction is likely not to be airtight and leaks that do occur must be tolerated.
Another possibility for making an airtight junction between housing segments is to bolt a tubular hollow section of rubber firmly to the flange of one housing and to push the adjacent equipment in the group so close that a good all-around seal is provided by deformation of the rubber profile. In such a case, removal of a housing segment in the middle of a chain of such segments is possible only by moving all of the adjacent housings in one direction or the other. Lowering or inserting a housing without moving the adjacent housings aside results in the possibility of damage.
One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved gasket of minimal overall length to increase the total length of the chain as little as possible and to provide, by virtue of its mechanical construction, a sealing connector that does not require the use of bolts, particularly on the side facing the floor of the vehicle.
A further object is to provide an improved gasket that makes it possible to remove any housing in a chain of such housings without having to move adjacent housings.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a reinforced gasket that is essentially self-supporting and can easily be locked to adjacent housing members to prevent it from working free.